[Yes]

There was a long pause after the Tzintkra Core’s reply before it spoke again.

[It was stolen before your ally, her brother was born. Many, many of your years ago. She built a pack and bound them to her and they dug]

[I was already a world of Death, yet I was not so fractured as I am now. My screams brought aid from Order’s Voice. Until the Shattering, it was not here, yet it came to my aid]

[That was when my surface became impassable to the living without aid and when the last of the Holy opened the Great Caverns that became the sister city to the Necropolis]

[The Voice brought dungeons and stability and gave me time to heal. I do not know what happened then or for a very long time, long even as I measure it]

[When next I was, when next I knew myself, Tzintkra was as you see it, damaged and incomplete, yet functional]

[She held the shard she had stolen, a piece of myself. I knew where she was, yet she had bound it - bound me. Made me a training tool and a power source and little more]

[Her stolen insight gave her knowledge and the title DeathLord, yet I withheld as much as I could from her. She came to the City Crystal and Challenged for the Lordship. She lost, yet was allowed to live and tried again]

[That time she won, yet I denied her. I gave her only a temporary Lordship and handed it to the next DeathLord who reached a Necropolis Crystal - the one she had beaten]

[She raged, but once again the City Lord let her live. Such were the rules of Challenge, the strongest DeathLord was to rule the city; a failure simply meant you were not the strongest, but there was to be no retribution]

[He would have allowed her to Challenge again, I believe. He did not understand when I tried to tell him of her betrayal of her world, nor did he understand why he was City Lord again]

[He was a good City Lord. The Necropolis flourished under him]

[When next I knew, there were no DeathLords on Tzintkra other than the one I denied. She took the Lordship and I could not deny her. Yet I did what I had done before; she held the Lordship only in trust for another. For one I can trust]

[For you]

You don’t even know me, how can you trust me?

I didn’t do as the City Lord you liked did, I didn’t let her live.

[Order’s Voice has spoken of you. I trust in it. Past that … I could not deny you the Lordship if I wished. You are the Incarnate of Death. The Lordship of Tzintkra passes to the one strongest in Death]

[None can be stronger in Death than its Incarnate]

Serenity needed some time to absorb what Tzintkra’s Core had just implied, so he simply stood there, thinking.

The core knew he was the Incarnate of Death, and more than that, it and Order’s Voice had talked about him. He knew the Voice spoke, but somehow he hadn’t made the connection that it would talk to others about him.

It trusted him and said he was trustworthy?

Serenity stood there as his thoughts swirled until Tzintkra spoke again, shaking him out of his daze.

[Can you gather the remaining Death energy and send it to your Dungeon? That will filter it properly and send it back to me]

[The City Crystal needs to be accessible to all, it itches that it is not]

He could try.

Serenity was about to break the link when he realized he had another question.

The shard of your core. How can I return it to you?

[There is no need. I have healed as much as I can and there is no longer a place for it. I gift it to you; do with it as you will]

After a short pause, Tzintkra continued.

[Order’s Voice says I should expect you to eat it. I do not think that is normal for your species, but if that’s what you wish, it is fine]

Even Order’s Voice was starting to tease Serenity about how much and how many strange things he ate. Serenity sighed as he released the City Crystal and looked down at the caged crystal.

Order’s Voice wasn’t wrong. He did want to eat it.

Serenity grumbled to himself about being predictable but started peeling the cage away from the crystal.

It had no real taste, simply a flavor of Death twined into mana and essence. It passed through him gently and soothed the few places that hadn’t finished healing from calling the Nightmare Wraith. The last of the energy circled then sank into the crystal seed in his abdomen; he felt something, but wasn’t certain what, then it sped up the links along his spine into his core and he knew.

Nothing had changed, yet something very fundamental was different. He knew some of what the land knew, the same way he knew things about his body, yet the sense was far weaker. All it really told him was where the mana flows were good and where they were stagnant and poisonous, still damaged by either war or the Shattering.

He could tell where life was in concentration and where death stood dominant. More than that, he would tell where neither was, the land still too damaged for even Death to hold sway.

More of Tzintkra was damaged than was whole, and the damage ate at the very foundation of what the World Core was trying to save.

Serenity pulled himself back to where he stood and the state of the world faded into the background. It was little more than a vague awareness now; he knew he’d have to concentrate to see all of that again.

Is that always how you see the world?

Tzintkra didn’t reply, and he didn’t have the sense that it had even heard him. That was somehow reassuring.

Serenity started pulling the Death energy near him towards himself. He wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to feed it to the dungeon -

Oh, of course, like moving mana even though it’s best to send it as both entwined, along the Link. The same way the Nightmare Wraith came, only the other direction and slower.

Time passed as he controlled the flow of mana and essence.

---

“The fighting is over. Your friends and ally survived. They tell me the city will require repair.”

Serenity turned towards the Nightmare Wraith. He’d vaguely known it was there, but hadn’t paid much attention since he knew it wouldn’t harm him. He didn’t know how long it had been there; he’d been completely absorbed in channeling the energy away from the room with the City Crystal.

It’d waited until he was nearly done to speak.

“I am heading away, back to my dungeon. It is some distance from here, but my Core is awake. Someone has entered the dungeon; I wish to be there before they reach my floor so that they can be judged. My dungeon will delay as best he can but it is time."

Serenity nodded. The Nightmare Wraith’s highest concern should be his dungeon, so he was right; it was time for him to leave. “Can you tell the others it’s safe for them to come in? I think I yelled at Hale earlier.”

The Nightmare Wraith floated away. Moments later, Raz stepped into the room. “Wow. This really does feel less uncomfortable. Did you know you’re glowing?”

What was Raz talking about? “Glowing?”

“Yeah, like your eyes do sometimes, the undead fire thing, only it’s all over you.” Raz seemed bouncy as he walked over to Serenity. “So, are we going to your home soon? Earth, I think you said? I want to get out of this creepy city. Did you know that at least half of the living people bring undead with them everywhere they go?”

Serenity was starting to have trouble pulling in Death energy; the local level was too close to what was outside. He’d already decided it was safe, which was all the World Core had asked for, and it was a bit distracting to do while he talked. Serenity released his link to the A Rest from Death dungeon and pulled his aura closer to himself.

“Did I stop glowing?” Serenity guessed it was probably using the link to the dungeon that made him glow, but he wanted to be certain.

“Yup!” Raz turned to look at the door he’d come in from as it opened, revealing Katya.

“Did you ask him yet?” Katya leaned over, hanging on the door. Serenity could only see the top half of her body.

“No!” Raz made shooing gestures at Katya and she disappeared behind the door as it closed.

Raz turned back to Serenity. “They want me to ask if you’re going to be staying here. Since you’re the City Lord. I told them you wouldn’t be so then they started asking about what would happen to the city and Tasi said you’d have to appoint another leader or find a City Manager and then he said that you were the only one who could be Lord so it would have to be a manager and then Hale said why don’t we make Tasi the City Manager and then he said he’s already the City Lord for another City and he doesn’t want the responsibility so he’d try to find a proper City Manager and then Hale started laughing and asked where a City Manager would hide in a city with a Lord that hated anyone who could threaten her and Tasi tried to defend his sister but did a really bad job and ended up agreeing with Hale but said there had to be someone who was doing the work since he was sure his sister wasn’t but he didn’t know where he’d find that person and-”

“Whoa there! I’m not sure what you just said. Can you slow down?” Serenity watched Raz. He didn’t think he’d have been able to say that much on a single breath.

Raz took a deep breath. “You need to decide what you’re doing with the city. They sent me in here to ask since they think we’re close friends and maybe because we’re both draconic in origin?”

I want to go home.

Serenity sighed. He had the way home in his sight, and he was going to have to take care of responsibilities first.

I didn’t even sign up to be City Lord! I’d have turned it down if someone had asked!

He supposed that was why Tzintkra hadn’t asked, but since it seemed like he was stuck with it, he wanted to take care of it as quickly as he could.

Just how much of this can I push off onto other people?